Shik was engrossed with all the beautiful things about Ai: how her hair dropped to his face as he held her, how light she felt in his hands, and the noise she made when he penetrated her. Shik was going through her hymn. And as he kept moving blood started dripping through her womb.

" I'm sorry, Ai. Am I hurting you?"

" It just hurts a little. But please don't stop. I want you to hold me as long as you can."

Shik couldn't control himself. He was losing himself in his lust of Ai. The more he thrusted into her the more ecstasy ran through his veins. He couldn't take it. At long last...it was over. Shik and Ai were both sweating, panting like wild animals going through heat, and holding each other's hands as they both gazed into the other's sweaty face. As Shik looked into Ai's face he smiled.

" I'm sorry, Ms. Ai. This is the first for me. Was I no good?"

" I wouldn't know," Ai smiled at Shik's innocent yet naïve comment. " It was a first for me as well. The question is what are we going to do now, Shik?"

" We could move on. We could elope. People may be after you but that doesn't matter to me. We could move to Finland, or Ireland, or somewhere far away from Japan. We could take the orphans with us—Ti, Sasko, Uwa, and Kagora. What do you think, Ai?"

" I think that's a wonderful idea, Shik. You, Ti, Sasko, Uma, and Kogara can be happy together."

" Wait? What about you, Ai? You forgot—"

Ai leaned in and kissed Shik's lips before he could say another word. When Ai pulled her lips out she rubbed her hair against Shik's chest and smiled as she wrapped her arms around his chest. " Shik, can you cuddle with me?"

" What? But we don't have time for that, Ai. If we don't leave now—"

" I know, Shik. I just want you to be close to you in this house one last time. Please let me be close to you one last time, Shik."

" O-Okay, Ms. Ai."

" It's not Ms; it's Mrs. When we leave...I want to be your wife."

" Ai?"

Shik grabbed Ai around her waist and held her close in his arms. Shik felt warm with Ai in his hands. He wanted to leave with her, he wanted to see her smile, he wanted her to know how much he would protect her. Because he loved her.

###

All that happened—Shik getting into bed with Ai, Ai giving herself to him, how happy he was to see her smile—all of it was gone when Shik opened his eyes. Shik was mortified. He was in the woods, lying on the ground, looking into the glimmer of the moonlight.

" Ai."

Either Ai dragged him out here or he walked in his sleep. Either way he was too far away from the orphanage. And his heart...it felt so...cold. His eyes were starting to cold and he was crying from swelling.

" Ai..."

Shik tried standing up. His legs were numb. When he stood up he feel back down. Shik tried standing up again, this time he could stood perfectly still. Shik tried walking towards the orphanage, but with every step he took it felt like a power drill was going through his left temple.

" Ai. Ai. Ai. Anyone."

Over hills, down hills, walking through the woods with broken legs and hurt arms— his pain couldn't stop him from finding out the truth.

" Ai...oh no."

In the sky smoke was rising into the air. Shik could see flames in the sky where the orphanage was suppose to be. Curious, fearing the worst may've come to anyone, he limped over to the orphanage.

" No, no, no, no. Please be okay, everyone. Everyone, please tell me your okay. Someone please."

###

Fire. Everything was on fire. The orphanage...it was on fire. Right up to the brim the orphanage was on fire. Shik watched in horror thinking about what may've caused it.

"Ti? Sasko? Uwa? Kagora? Ai? Ai..."

Shik ran straight towards the orphanage hoping to get inside and find Ai and the orphans to be safe. What he found however was flames blowing out of the entrance. He ran to the window and peeked inside. There he found Ai, sitting on her knees, a ragged blade dagger in her hands.

" Ai..."

She was going to do it. She was really going to commit suicide. Seppuku, the samurai suicide. She raised the blade to where her intestines were suppose to be. With one last look at the window, seeing the face of Shik watching her, she smiled and ripped the blade through her intestines.

" Ai!"

Shik watched in horror as blood dripped over her knife. Ai was going to die and there was nothing he could do that was going to save her. The last thing he saw as he watched her slowly die before his eyes was her eyes. They were happy. A single tear then dripped from her left eye as she smiled. Just looking at her eyes made Shik feel like she was talking to him.

" Shik...I'm going to be okay. This was the only way to save you and the orphans. Please don't cry. We'll be able to meet again, my darling. One way or another we'll meet again and be happy together. Now I must go. Take care until we meet again, Shik."

Before Shik's very eyes Ai fell on the ground. She was dead. Her eyes were still open, her eyes were still swelled up with tears, but Shik could see the one who he loved was no where. Her soul had left her body and ascended into the heaven. And as flames moved towards her Shik felt his heart slowly being teared apart.

" No! No, no, no, NO!"

" I don't know why your still crying. The traitor's daughter is dead."

Shik could not believe his ears. He turned around and saw what was the same man who visited their orphanage warning Ai he was going to kill her. Now she was dead...all Shik's frustration and anger went to him. Shik's blood pressure became high, he balled his hands into little fists, and growled at the man.

" You! Where are the orphans? Ti? Sasko? Uwa? Kagora? Tell me where they are!"

" Oh, their here. At least in spirit anyways. Let me tell you what happened. After you and her slept together she asked her orphans to throw your body in the woods."

" What? Why would she do that? It doesn't make any sense!"

" That's what I thought when I saw her. But then I thought...maybe she wanted to stop you from interfering."

" Interfering? Interfering with what?"

" With her plans of course. She wanted to turn herself to me and let me have my way with her. All she asked in return was that I would leave you and the orphans alone. That I would let you and them lead your own lives, and that you could grow up together. And do you know what I told her? I told her she's poison; anyone who is close to her will get the same ideals as her, and that if I didn't kill them now then they would grow up to forge an assassination attempt against my teacher. So I grabbed those kids—all four of them—and I throw them into a closet in their orphanage."

" No...don't tell me..."

" That's right. I'm the one who set the orphanage on fire. Your precious Ai ran into the orphange hoping she could pull them all out. When she couldn't find them she begged me to help her, like a dog that I would tell her where I hid them. I told her here's a knife. Why don't you take this knife and kill herself just like I told you. It would be the greatest honour for a useless woman like yourself—"

" Stop it!"

Shik couldn't control himself any longer. He got back on his feet and ran straight towards the samurai. Shik was a pacifist. He didn't believe in hurting others to get what he wanted, but he just couldn't stand him any longer. What came to Shik was a sword. The same sword the swordsman master gave to him. The sword went straight into Shik's torso. The samurai pulled it out as he grabbed Shik by his collar, and he threw him throw the window of his orphanage.

" I think this death would be suitable for a non-swordsman like you. It is the power of my sensei's ultimate family tecnique."

Shik could see Ai's face upclose. He was lying right next to her. The samurai swished his sword back and forth—back and forth—gaining the energy to create a tecnique his sensei would be able to do with one slash of her sword. The swordsman then slashed his sword at the orphanage and a blade of wind came out. When the blade hit the fire the flames started to spread. Shik, who didn't want to leave Ai's body, hugged her.

" Ai..."

Shik's body was consumed with flames as was Ai's body. Outside the swordsman swished his sword a few more times and then he dropped his sword back on his belt. The swordsman took one last look at the brillant image of the flames. After seeing the house burned he gave one big " Hmph" and turned around and walked away from the orphange.

" Because of this I'm late for dinner. Dinners going to be cold. I guess they wouldn't know what cold is. Everything for them is smoldering hot. Hot like their burned bodies."

###

Shik was in pain. His arms, his legs, every part of him was burned. He looked at his body. It was all black from his burned skin. Even though he was in great pain he walked towards a small mirror just lying in the ashes and picked it up with his burned fingers. In his reflection he saw a deformed face; his face. The sight of his face scared him.

" Ah!"

Shik dropped the mirror. It shattered when it hit the ground. Shik's ears were still blurring from the trauma that he reached his hands down and tried to grab what remained of the glass shards. What he found however instead was a finger. A bone finger sticking out of the ground black from the ashes. Shik pulled the hand up and saw the face of Ai.

" A-Ai...?"

Shik could still cry even in his state. He reached his hands around the skeleton of Ai and sobbered on her. The image of her stabbing herself continued to replay itself again in his memory's. Shik couldn't take it. Anymore pain and his heart would be teared into pieces. The thing about broken hearts was...when their mended back together...their never quite the same.

" Kill. I must kill. Kill."

Shik saw it. A mask that somehow wasn't burned in the fire. Shik reached his hand down and picked the mask off the ground. Without looking at it he placed the mask over his face. He could hear himself breathing while he looked through the eyes of his mask, and felt himself change in it.

" I can see, smell, hear better than I ever could. I can imagine far more than I ever could. And what I want is too...get my revenge." Shik saw a scabbard in the ashes. Shik pulled on the scabbard and a katana came out. Ai told him it once belonged to her father who won it in a duel against a clan member who he decapicated for everyone to see. That man was once his friend. " Motoko...I make a blood oath on this day. You took everything from me. Everything! If I ever see your face I will kill you."